Day one, morning at the Dallas Fall Toy Preview was mostly grumbling as exhibitors complained widely that: “This place is empty.”, and “There’s nobody here.” Indeed, the main floors on 12 and 13 looked like a ghost town. I found it much busier down at the 4th floor Diverse and McManemin showrooms. That’s likely because with twenty to thirty companies crowded into each space there was a much higher population density.
Activity had picked up by evening and interestingly there seemed to be more people at the Tuesday night cocktail party than there were in the building all day. This led me to quip: “if they want to increase attendance, maybe they should serve beer.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the sentiment had changed. Most exhibitors I spoke with were saying “We had really good meetings”. Several companies stated that while they could skip the show and just travel to all the different retailers, they like that fact that with the Dallas showroom space they could put their entire line of product offerings on display.
It was good to see several TIA Board members actively starting discussions and eliciting feedback about the future of the show. As usual, there was talk of moving the show to Los Angeles. There are two insurmountable problems with that. First, the large LA based companies don’t really want their nimbler competitors around trying to “distract” retailers with their often more creative wares. If the show was moved to Los Angeles in an attempt to consolidate what has turned into four October trade shows, then the big LA based companies would simply change their dates thus defeating the whole purpose.
Second, a lot of companies have opened showrooms in El Segundo but they can be anywhere from a couple of blocks to a couple of miles apart which necessitates leaving the building and often getting into a car and dealing with LA traffic. I seemed to be the only who thought that could be solved by running a continuous string of shuttle buses. Then the real answer came out. “Buyers don’t like it. They don’t want to travel from block to block and building to building.” That’s it. Retailers are the ones we want to attract and convenience. If we want to change the Dallas format in in such a way as to attract more buyers, we can’t do it in a way that they have already told us they don’t like. For the time being, at least, LA is out.
Company owners told me they like Dallas because it is convenient, it’s centrally located, and both travel and hotels are relatively inexpensive. They also like the ability to put their entire product line on display. Their complaints were: “More Buyers”, and that renting booth space was very expensive.
From where I stand, I like the show as it currently is. I can fly in and stay in an inexpensive hotel and spend two days meeting with fifty toy company owners and Presidents because they have a lot of free time on their hands. That’s great for me but I’m acutely aware that y’all aren’t having the show for my benefit. If the show doesn’t make financial sense for toy manufacturers, then it will cease to exist. So, here’s my two cents on possible way to improve the show for my clients:
- More Buyers. It was great to have Wal-Mart, Wal-mart.com, Target and Target.com in attendance but booth space is expensive so if more mid-tier retailers are represented that helps to justify the costs. It would be particularly helpful if Sales Execs could use the show to avoid an additional schlep to Menomee Falls, Wisconsin or Grand Rapids, Michigan. What can we do to attract broader retailer participation?
- Condense the Show in Space and Time. Most manufacturers had two or three appointments on Thursday morning but also had plenty of downtime on Tuesday and Wednesday. The show could easily be compressed into two days. I confess that I have no knowledge of how this would affect the T.I.A.’s financial considerations but my understanding is that this show isn’t a big money maker for them anyway. Also, the show could easily be fit on just the 12th and 13th This would create a busier and buzzier environment. How could the showrooms on the 4th floor and what’s left of the 8th floor be motivated and compensated to move upstairs?
- Serve Beer. But maybe don’t start until lunch. 😊
The big buzz in Dallas was various announcements about the potential rebirth of Toys “R” Us. Phase one will be a shop within a shop launch of Toys “R” Us private label brands at “a prominent Midwest based retailer.” Meijers? Kohls? That sounds like a Hail Mary pass to me. I can’t imagine that the public is exactly riveted by brands like Fastlane or Animal Alley.
Much more interesting is the prospect of opening 200-300 stores in 2019 under the Toys “R” Us banner. At this point, plan specifics are preliminary and unsurprisingly very sketchy. That said, we should remember that Toys “R” Us was a viable business if it hadn’t been loaded with all that debt. Now debt is gone, they are mostly off the hook to vendors for 2017 shipments, they have wriggled out of their leases and there is an awful lots of inexpensive retail space to let out into the world.
A lot of people had the immediate reaction, “Why would companies want to deal with them again?” Really? I can’t imagine a single toy manufacturer that wouldn’t happily line up for a retailer with 200-300 doors – provided that the terms were right. That said, the new owners of Toys “R” Us. Should come to realize that there is a lot of bad blood between vendors and a certain Sr. Merchandising Executive who actively chased in shipments that he had to have known weren’t going to be paid for. TRU’s owners may have needed him to hold things together thus far, but if they want to re-establish trust with their vendors, he will have to be jettisoned. All trust there is gone and is unlikely to be repaired. It may be time for the man in the Geoffrey mask to go.
As I write this, Sears/Kmart is back on the ropes and wobbling badly like an aging prize fighter. They have announced they will close roughly 150 stores with an additional 250 stores put under review while about 300 stores that are considered more viable will remain open. Many toy companies continue to sell to Kmart while keeping receivables on a very tight leash, but I can’t help but think that I’ve seen this movie before… and I’ve seen it just recently.
Fortunately, other retailers are picking up the slack, Wal-Mart is increasing its toy department by 30% and Target is doubling its toy selection. Kohl’s and Penney, Five Below and Best Buy are all increasing toy sections for the holiday sales season and other retailers are following suit, Party City will open up to 50 pop-up stores for the holiday sales season and if successful, I would have to think that Spencer Gifts will follow suit with its Spirit Halloween division next year.
U.S. unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted. Source: Labor Department
This along with the lowest employment rate in fifty years, the highest consumer sentiment in 18 years and rip-roaring consumer spending should help toy manufacturers in 2018. The National Retail Federation expects that holiday sales-excluding autos, gas, and restaurants – should be up to 4.3 to 4.8 percent over 2017.
Most toy company executives are telling me: “though we would have done better without the demise of Toys “R” Us we think we will do okay.” They also say that they want to make sure that they are going to be okay before they start investing in additional staff. Toy industry hiring which was dead in the first half of 2018 picked up nicely in June but has not been as robust as it should be. I suspect that it will continue at the “better but not normal” rate until we make it through the holiday sales season and the January/February trade shows.
Steady as She Goes,
Tom Keoughan